To find the unit rate of muffins per cup of almonds, we divide the total number of muffins by the total cups of almonds:
\[ \text{Unit Rate} = \frac{\text{Number of Muffins}}{\text{Cups of Almonds}} = \frac{36 \text{ muffins}}{4 \text{ cups}} = 9 \text{ muffins per cup} \]
So, the unit rate is 9 muffins per cup of almonds.